Precious Memories: Free Camping in Mississippi

34-Day Cross Country RV Trip + 7-Day Caribbean Cruise 2022

Day 9: Darrow, Louisiana to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

May 5, 2022

As we were leaving the boondocking site at Houmas House this morning, we noticed that there were a lot of activities out in the parking lot near the garden entrance and foot bridge area. We figured that it could have been some school kids having their field trips there that morning. Not until we were pulling out of the parking lot, that we saw the top of a steam boat on the other side of the levee. I suppose that the school kids must have gotten on that boat for a ride on the Mississippi River. Too bad we did not get to have a closer look at that sight as we were already driving off for the day!

Today, we will be driving from Darrow, past New Orleans, and into our destination at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. We have discussed about if we should make a stop in New Orleans, and I have already figured out where we could spend the night but after much discussions, we decided it's best for us not to stop in that city. For one thing, traffic seems to be hectic in that area, and I have read that the French Quarter area is not the safest place to be if we plan on spending the night there even at the RV park. Then, we also need to be very cautious in not getting the COVID virus on this trip since we have a cruise waiting for us in a week or so. French Quarter is a busy place with people bumping shoulders everywhere, making it much easier to catch something. We finally decided we should just skip it this time.

Weather was not the best and as we drove past New Orleans it started to rain quite heavily. Then the sky started to light up after we went back on I-10 before reaching the state line into Mississippi. About two miles in, there is a rest area and welcome center that we wanted to stop at. It turned out to be another beautiful rest area. We found these rest stops in the southern states quite welcoming and all with its special designs. This one is no exceptions.

So pretty!

From the rest stop, we only had a short drive down south on 607/90 Hwy to the the Silver Slipper Casino RV Park where we've made reservation for the night.

Silver Slipper Casino RV Park, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

We were a little early for check-in but our assigned space #7 was vacant so we were able to just park there for the time being. The utility box was locked and we were not able to set up yet until a worker came by and unlocked the box later on. This RV park is right by the beach, making it a nice place to be for those who wants to spend some time at the private-like empty beach of Gulf of Mexico.

Then we went across the road to the beach and explored a little. It is definitely a good beach to enjoy, water was calm and clean, with no one there.

There is no public bathroom on site, just a little shed with a sign of a phone number.

It was a Friday and the park was still kind of empty.

Casino at the far end.

Right across from the RV park. There's no parking on either side of the road at this section, making it feel like it's a private beach for us.

Cross over to the beach

When it was about time to check in, we called the phone number posted and had the free shuttle come and pick us up to the casino. Definitely tipped the driver for their excellent service.

As I was told by the lady when I called for reservation, first, we went to get our Players Club cards before checking in. Then we took the card to the hotel check-in desk and registered. They deducted our one night stay there for free. It's first night free for players club members, a $50 saving for the night!